Drop out, return, repeat: the higher education dilemma

The first time I dropped out of college, I did it because I could. You know that feeling, when you realize you don’t have to do anything? It hit me later than most.

Since no one else was paying my bills, I had the freedom to drop.

The second time was even more lame: No real reason at all. Except that I had no idea where all this was going so why not try my hand finding work with the meager skills I already had?

Along with stints posing as a proficient clerk/typist, I took seven-plus years to get through school, the final three semesters squished into one calendar year. I missed an entire summer taking overloads to finish.

The difference? I’d found my direction. At long last. And sort of.

First, doing jobs I despised proved a great incentive to take a sober look at what kind of jobs might be better. And finishing, finally, opened the first door that led to more doors and to jobs I loved, far from where I began.

That was then, and also now.

A rocky road

From other parents and from those currently in what-do-I-do mode, I hear comments about the rocky road to figuring out a life direction.

And how whenever loved ones gather, the topic comes up.

Lucky is the person who has not gotten a punch in the mouth for posing one of the following questions to a post-high school/pre-“real job” someone:

What’s your major?

What do you want to do?

Any plans to settle down?

If not actual violence, these will at least elicit an eye roll or maybe just an inner groan.

Why? Because, who needs it, that’s why. The question may come out of interest and even affection. But it can feel like an interrogation, especially if the answer is, “It’s complicated. I wish I knew.”

So lucky, too, is the person who knew at age 12 that engineering (or medicine or accounting) was beckoning and began to focus. The rest? Not so lucky.

That is, if you see higher education as merely a road to employment. Invest in tuition, get payback in a future career.

A college education was once about inner growth: learning about the world, about other ways of thinking with the goal of becoming a more well-rounded person. A career was a bonus.

In recent years, it has been about financial return: major in this, get that job. Otherwise, why bother?

A different landscape

So pity the student who hasn’t a clue: taking classes, aiming at ... something. But what?

Unlike their parents or, especially, grandparents, today’s students are mostly not aiming at a lifetime career. The days of getting hired out of school and working for that employer for life are largely over.

Data shows that the average American worker will have about 10 jobs over a lifetime, with the median length at each about four years. Some work out; some lead to other things.

All that should take a bit of pressure off the whole “declaring a major” thing. The goal is forward progress.

By 2020, 65 percent of jobs will require certification or a college degree. That path may not work for everyone.

The tricky part is figuring out what’s next and how to get there. That doesn’t always happen on a prescribed timetable.